Twitter Unveils New Plan to “Protect” U.S. Midterm Elections, Brings Back ‘Prebunks’

FILE – The Twitter application is seen on a digital device, Monday, April 25, 2022, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Daniel Baldwin –OAN White House Correspondent
UPDATED 10:41 AM PT – TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2022

Twitter released a new plan to “protect” the 2022 Midterm Elections by combating what the social media platform labels as misinformation. In a blog post Thursday, the social media platform disclosed it would be reinstating “prebunks…to get ahead of misleading narratives on Twitter, and to proactively address topics that may be the subject of misinformation.”

Specifically, the company said it would be placing prompts directly on people’s timelines in the US Twitter used this feature in the 2020 Election. In addition, the platform announced it would be activating its Civic Integrity Policy.

“The Civic Integrity Policy covers the most common types of harmful misleading information about elections and civic events, such as: claims about how to participate in a civic process like how to vote, misleading content intended to intimidate or dissuade people from participating in the election, and misleading claims intended to undermine public confidence in an election – including false information about the outcome of the election,” the blog post read. “Tweets with this content may be labeled with links to credible information or helpful context, and Twitter will not recommend or amplify this content in areas of the product where Twitter makes recommendations. People on Twitter will see a prompt prior to liking or sharing labeled tweets, and in cases where there is potential for harm associated with the false or misleading claim, the Tweet may not be liked or shared to prevent the spread of the misleading information.”

Twitter has pledged to restrict the spreading of posts, articles, or images that do not meet its new guidelines.

“Tweets with this content may be labeled with links to credible information or helpful context, and Twitter will not recommend or amplify this content in areas of the product where Twitter makes recommendations. People on Twitter will see a prompt prior to liking or sharing labeled tweets, and in cases where there is potential for harm associated with the false or misleading claim, the Tweet may not be liked or shared to prevent the spread of the misleading information.”

However, in Oct. 2020, Twitter restricted reporting by the New York Post that offered a connection between then candidate Joe Biden to his son Hunter’s foreign business affairs. 

This is what happens when I try to post our story exposing Biden family graft. pic.twitter.com/7pwxUoNgTX

— Sohrab Ahmari (@SohrabAhmari) October 14, 2020

Instead, Twitter ruled that the New York Post’s article violated the company’s policies against hacked materials. The company continued to prevent users from posting the article under a different rule against publishing private user information.

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